15 Minute Seder For Young Children

Are you hosting your first seder? Are there some very young guests at your table? Follow along with this special 15 minute seder playlist. You can use this playlist independently or with your PJ Library Haggadah.

Related:  Step-by-Step Seder Videos

Kadesh, First Blessing Over Wine or Grape Juice

We start the seder by raising our cup of wine or grape juice and saying a blessing before we drink it. The first cup is called Kadesh, which means "make it holy" or "make it special" in Hebrew.

Yachatz, Breaking Off the Dessert Matzah

The seder table has a ceremonial plate with three pieces of matzah. The middle matzah on this plate has a special job. Half of it, the afikoman, will “hide” and come back later as the last bite of our meal. Yachatz (yah-CHATZ) means “split in two.” 

Ma Nishtana, The Four Questions

Traditionally, the youngest person or people at the table get  to ask the Four Questions.
These questions are introduced with the Hebrew phrase  Ma Nishtana (MAH neesh-tah-NAH), which means “What is different?” 

The Pesach Story

On Pesach, we encourage everyone to talk about this story — the more, the better! 

The Ten Plagues

On Pesach, we are grateful that extraordinary things happened to help us go free. But we’re also sad that other people suffered while we were saved. When we remember the Ten Plagues, we dip a pinky finger into our cup of wine or grape juice and take one drop out for each plague. We’re still joyful, but our cup of joy is not quite as full.

Dayenu, More Than Enough For Us

Dayenu (die-AY-new) means “It is more than enough for us!” God has given the Jewish people so many gifts — and even just one of them would have been enough for us to feel grateful and happy.

Tzafun, Finding And Eating the Dessert Matzah

At the start of this seder, the adults hid the Afikoman. The meal cannot finish without this very unusual dessert – a last taste of matzah. The children have to find the Afikoman and make a deal with the adults to return the missing Afikoman. Remember, there is a prize for returning it! The return of the Afikoman from its hiding spot means we are ready to finish our meal.

Chad Gadya, Just One Little Goat

The Haggadah has one last song. It’s also a game: a long chase, with one verse after another describing someone chased by someone else stronger, until in the end only God’s power remains.